By Love Undone
by jdmusiclover
Summary: A month has passed since Emma took the darkness onto herself, and though she's fought it valiantly, the darkness has been steadily increasing its hold over her. Her family and her true love have finally found a way to free her from the darkness; to destroy the darkness for good, but is she too far gone to agree to it?
1. Chapter 1

By Love Undone

 _Disclaimer_ _: This chapter is going to hurt. I don't mean "oh, that's kind of poignant!" hurt. I mean killer-paper-cut-dipped-in-salt-water hurt. Like magic, all fanfiction comes with a price. I've been churning out nothing but the fluffiest of fluff lately, and, well, all the angst and evil was bound to spill out somewhere. So, yeah, this chapter may be the darkest I've gone yet. But let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid! This is, in fact a 2-shot, so all is not yet lost. This is after all an OUAT fanfic dealing with heroes (and heroes who have temporarily lost their way), and if there's anything we've learned from those hero types, it's that there's_ always _hope. If you stick with me through the pain, I promise I'll make it up to you in the end! (and somehow I managed to quote Rumple (sort of), the Bible and Killian all in the course of that one little disclaimer, lol!)_

How had it come to this?

The despair rose up and threatened to choke him as he struggled to hold on just a little longer. They'd come so close, so _bloody_ close. Surely it wasn't too late; surely it wasn't all in vain. Not now, not when they'd _finally_ found the solution. This _couldn't_ be it.

Killian chuckled humorlessly as he felt himself slipping ever farther away. He always knew his end would come like this, that the Dark One would have a hand in it. For three hundred years he'd accepted that, understood it was the price of his vengeance. After all, once he'd destroyed the Dark One and the craven coward who'd been its host, what more was there to live for?

Now circumstances had changed. Oh, aye, he still hated the Dark One; still loathed it with all of his being, but now the demon had attached itself to a new host. His dearest love, his home, his happy ending. Come what may, he loved Emma Swan. Gods how he loved her! For the rest of eternity he would love her. Killian little knew what followed death. Was there an afterlife, or did one simply fade from existence?

It didn't matter. A love as strong as his could never die. He only hoped it had been enough to get through to her; enough to stop her from the plot she was contemplating. If his desperate act had saved her, it would be worth every moment of the pain. If not...well, he could only hope one of her family members would succeed. If they couldn't cling to hope, all was really and truly lost.

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

It had been one month ago that Emma sacrificed herself. One month since the greatest hero had taken on the greatest darkness. One month since Killian's world had crumbled when the love of his life vanished, leaving behind nothing but the Dark One dagger bearing her name.

For a moment, no one had moved; shock settling in. When he'd finally been able to move, Killian rushed to the dagger, brushing off Robin Hood's attempt to stay him, Regina's insistence he was being a fool.

All that mattered was Emma. Getting her back, saving her from the darkness, that was all. Nothing else mattered.

He'd called for her, summoned the Dark One until he was hoarse, but to no avail. Perhaps she'd moved beyond the dagger's purview. Perhaps her sacrifice rendered the dagger useless. Whatever the case, he'd followed the Charming's back to their flat that night, collapsed in his true love's bed, surrounded by her soft scent, trying desperately to hold on to the memory of the last time he was here, the moment she almost confessed her love to him.

None of it worked. There was no relief, no easing of the torment that night. He suspected even the rum couldn't have dulled this ache, not that he'd turned to it. No. He needed to be clear-headed for what lay ahead. If he was to get to his sweet love, find a way to free her, he must have all his wits about him.

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

Given the information at their disposal it had been a simple thing to determine their next move. The Apprentice had insisted Merlin held the key to the destruction of the darkness, and so to Merlin they must go.

Killian ruthlessly pushed aside memories of Camelot, memories of a ruthless king who'd sent his two best naval officers on a quest for a weapon of mass destruction, memories of Liam lying cold and dead within his arms as he wept in torment.

If going to Camelot was the only way to save Emma, to Camelot he would go.

It had been far easier to get to the famed land than any of them had anticipated. It was David who had remembered Zelena's story, who'd remembered that the wicked witch had the power to travel by cyclone.

Robin and Regina had been reluctant to put their fate in the hands of a woman who had lately been such a formidable adversary, and no wonder. No sooner was she freed from her prison than she attempted to throttle the outlaw in exchange for the black fairy's wand. In the end, however, the Wicked Witch was once more subdued and subsequently convinced to provide them the transport they so desperately needed.

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

Finding Emma upon their arrival on the outskirts of King Arthur's court had been an unexpected boon. She was altered, of course, the hint of darkness flickering behind her eyes, her temper quicker, her patience shorter, but she was still Emma. Still the woman he loved.

And she was fighting the darkness with every fiber of her being.

Sometimes the effort to hold the darkness at bay was so great within her that she'd collapse under the strain. It broke him, seeing her suffer so much.

"How can I help you love?" he'd asked, hovering over her like a mother hen. "What can I do to make this easier? Tell me; I'll do anything for you!"

For a brief moment Emma, _his Emma_ , pure and uncorrupted, had shown forth. With tears in her eyes, she'd caressed his face, brushed her lips gently against his. And then the demon had once more fought for dominance.

"You can't help me Killian," she'd insisted in a cold voice. "No one can."

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

Merlin had confirmed that this was indeed the truth.

"Tethering the darkness to a single human soul," he'd said sorrowfully, "that was the only choice I had; the only way to ensure the darkness did not run rampant, destroying everything in all the known realms."

"So," Emma said in a voice utterly devoid of emotion, "even if we found some way to get this out of me, it wouldn't change anything? We'd be right back where we started from with the darkness consuming everyone?"

Merlin nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid that is so."

"Okay," Emma said, turning toward her parents, toward Killian. "So lock me up; put me in Rumple's old cell, something. It's getting harder to push away the darkness with each passing day, and I'll be damned before I let it force me into hurting someone…especially one of you, one of the people I love."

"No!" Killian shouted, turning back to the sorcerer. "That's not all; that cannot be all! There is another way; with you, Merlin, there is _always_ another way! What are you withholding from us?"

Merlin eyed him assessingly for long moments, and then nodded. "You remember much from your youth, Killian. Aye, there is one last possibility, but it's speculative at best."

"Please," Snow begged, clasping her hands in supplication. "This is my _daughter_! Please, tell us; we'll do anything!"

"Your majesty," Merlin intoned, "it is not you who can do what needs to be done; only the Dark One, herself. There is an old saying: By the Dark One possessed, by the Dark One undone. By love the Dark One possessed, by love the Dark One undone."

"What the bloody hell does that mean?" Killian asked, having no patience for riddles.

"Simply this," Merlin said. "From the story you've told me, Emma Swan is a Dark One utterly different from all the other Dark Ones there have ever been. She chose to tether herself to the darkness out of heroism not out of greed, not out of ambition, not out of an act of evil. Legend says that it will be a Dark One who destroys the darkness for good. Not just any Dark One; only a Dark One who's heart is true; a Dark One who choses love above all else."

"How?" David asked.

"There is a crystal," Merlin answered. "A magic crystal that burns blue as the cloudless sky when held by the valiant. In order to defeat the darkness for all time, the Dark One must transfer the darkness into the crystal and then destroy it."

"What will happen to her when she does this?" Henry asked. "Will she be hurt?"

"There's no way to know," Merlin answered. "It is a dangerous task, made more so the stronger a foothold the darkness has taken. Suffice it to say, destroying the darkness within will not leave the host unscarred."

"Well," Emma said, striding toward the door. "Whatever it does, it's bound to be better than just letting the darkness take over. What are we waiting for? Let's find the crystal and get this over with."

"A moment," Merlin said, extending a hand. "The darkness absorbs the evil of each successive Dark One, and thus, it becomes stronger, more powerful, and infinitely more evil with each passing host. You, my lady, are descending far more slowly into the darkness than most; your innate goodness, your heroism is protecting you, but it won't do so forever. The darkness will grow stronger with every passing day, and one day it will consume you. If this happens…you will find it neither desirable, nor possible to rid yourself of it."

"All the more reason to get out there and find this thing. Now."

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

But finding the crystal had proven easier said than done. Try as they might, they had no success.

And with each passing day, Emma lost a little more of herself to the darkness. She never harmed her family, never harmed Killian, but everyone else….everyone else was at risk when her temper grew erratic.

And so most had come to avoid her, to fear her much as they'd feared the Crocodile.

But Killian would never leave her, could never leave her. Come what may he would be at her side. He would never stop fighting for her.

Eventually they'd returned to Storybrooke, discouraged with their lack of success in Camelot. Perhaps they'd have success in more familiar surroundings. If not, at least they'd be _home_.

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

It was only this morning, after a month of searching that they'd had the breakthrough they'd spent so long wishing for.

They'd located the magic crystal.

Now the only question was whether or not there was still enough of _Emma_ left to fight against the dark impulses; enough of _Emma_ left to destroy the darkness.

Killian waited before the pawn shop, his eyes falling to Emma's yellow vessel. Abruptly the pain hit.

He missed her. He missed her so bloody much. He saw her each and every day, but she was no longer his Emma, this cruel, taunting woman who wore her face. Having her with him but not having her with him was the worst kind of torture imaginable.

Killian laid his one hand against the hood of her car, bowing his head, letting the memories flow over him. He thought back to those blessed weeks of peace, that short idyll between the time Rumplestiltskin was banished and the time the Queens of Darkness arrived.

They had been the best weeks of his life. Moonlight walks, romantic dates, hours upon hours doing nothing but basking in each other's presence. Her sweet kisses, gentle caresses.

Gone. All of it gone. Snuffed out as though it had never existed.

The fates were cruel beyond measure. It would have been bad enough to never find his happy ending, but to find her, to bask in perfect, exquisite happiness with her, and then have it all ripped away? He'd be loath to wish that fate even on the Crocodile.

"I oughta just toss that thing into the harbor."

Killian looked up, steeling himself against the sight of the woman who was, yet wasn't his Swan. His heart leapt in spite of himself at the sight of her. Long black trench coat, sky-high stiletto heels, hair frosted white and pulled back in a severe bun. She looked dangerous, deadly.

And he still longed for her. With everything in him.

"It would be a shame to do so, love," he said through a tightly closed throat.

Emma, the Dark Swan, as the townsfolk had taken to calling her, shrugged. "Don't need it any more. Much easier to just poof myself wherever I need to go."

She sauntered his way, her hips swaying seductively. "There is, however one thing I do need."

"What's that, love?"

She took the last two steps until she was so close he felt her body heat against him. "You."

With that she yanked him forward, taking his mouth with a ferocity and possessiveness he'd never experienced before. It was heady, intoxicating, and when she nipped roughly at his bottom lip, he groaned and heeded her silent command, opening for her.

For one blessed moment of oblivion Killian gave in, simply allowed the woman he loved to take, giving everything he had in return. The darkness clawed at him, whispered seductively, begged him to let it back in.

It would be so easy. He'd been a pirate, a villain for so long; it was like a second skin for him. He was so tired of fighting; so tired of striving to do the heroic thing; so tired of being at odds with this woman he loved desperately. Why not give in? Why not take the happiness she was offering him?

Emma finally pulled away, moving slightly to take his ear lobe into her mouth, letting her wicked tongue curl around his earring. Killian groaned deep in his throat.

"I've grown tired of waiting," she whispered in his ear. "I've wanted you for months; and its time I had you. Let me poof us somewhere a little more…comfortable."

It was as though icy water crashed over Killian. This wasn't his Emma; this wasn't the woman he loved.

"Emma, we can't do this," he said, his voice tight and breathy. He was dizzy with desire for her, but there were more important things than desire. "I will not take advantage of you like this."

Emma stepped back, one eyebrow raised in derision. "Take advantage of me?" She laughed long and hard, the sound cruel. "You don't have enough power to do anything to me—at least not anything I don't specifically command you to do. You know what's good about the darkness? It lets me have anything I want to have, and right now, I want _you_."

"Not like this!" he insisted, taking a further step back, his legs crashing against her yellow bug. "Not when you're not _you._ Emma when we finally make love, it won't be meaningless sex fueled by nothing but lust and animal passion. It will be the joining of the two of us, body and soul, nothing held back, nothing short of the physical consummation of the all-encompassing love we bear for each other."

For a moment Killian saw the tiniest flicker of his Emma in her eyes. "You never said it. Never said you love me before."

"I do," he insisted earnestly, stepping forward to take her hand in his. "I love you with everything in me, Emma. Surely you must know that!"

The flicker of her true self faded away and once again only darkness shown from her eyes. "If you love me, Killian, you'll give me what I want, what I _need_."

"It's because I _do_ love you that I can't do what you want, love."

She took a step back, an ugly sneer covering her face. "You really have become a hopeless puppy, haven't you Killian? Nothing but a lapdog for my _parents_ and all the other hypocritical _heroes_ in this town"

The words stung, Killian couldn't deny it, but this wasn't her. This wasn't his Emma. All he needed to do was endure the Dark One's taunts long enough to free his love, and then this whole nightmare would be over.

And now that they had the crystal, it would only be a matter of time.

"Be that as it may," Killian finally answered, "I'm determined to resist your wiles until your true self has returned, a circumstance that may come sooner rather than later. We've found the crystal, love! We've found the way to free you. All you need do is take it!"

There was a puff of smoke and when it cleared, Killian saw that they were no longer in Storybrooke. Emma had moved them to the bluffs just outside of town.

"Yeah," she said, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "That's not going to happen."

A chill came over Killian, as though a bucket of icy water had been dumped over him. "What do you mean, love?"

"I mean, Killian, that I have no intention of getting rid of the darkness."

The chill deepened, paralyzing him, frightening him beyond anything he'd experienced in years.

"Swan, think!" he pleaded. "Fight against this! This is not _you_! This darkness is not _you_! You must resist it!"

Slowly, deliberately she shook her head, a taunting smile covering her face. "Nope. Not gonna happen. Don't you see, Killian? We've been wrong about this all along!"

"Wrong about what, love?"

"The darkness," she said, looking at him earnestly. "It's not some 'curse' or some sort of, I don't know, prison. It's _freedom!_ Killian, I can do anything I want to. Everything is literally right at my fingertips! I've finally figured it out. It's not _either_ the Savior or the Dark One! I can be both! I _am_ both! And you know what? This darkness can even make me a _better_ savior than I was before!"

"Emma…" Killian said carefully, "what are you saying? What are you _planning_?"

"Ever since I came to this damn town, Killian," she said, pacing slowly back and forth, "we've been playing defense. Villains attack, we try to stop them. Well, I'm done; finished. It's time we start fighting smarter."

She stopped in front of him and looked him straight in the eyes. "From now on, we take out the bastards before they have a chance to touch us. And the first step on that journey is to get vengeance on those who have tried to screw us over in the past."

"Now Emma, think about this…"

"I _have_ thought about this," she said in a hard voice. "I've thought long and hard about this. People like Zelena? Rumple? Hell, even Regina; she's the one that cast the curse, made me an orphan for twenty-eight damn years. They need to _pay_ for what they did to us! We need to show all the would-be bad guys what happens when you screw with the Dark One and the people she loves. It's time I take them out; kill them slowly."

"Swan!" Killian yelped, "you _can't_ be serious! You can't truly mean to resort to cold-blooded murder! We've talked about this; we've talked about how empty and futile vengeance is. Please, don't do this!"

The Dark Swan growled deep in her throat, ignoring him completely. Without warning, she launched a fireball at a sapling three feet to Killian's left. "Yes, that should do nicely. Very effective without being too quick. We want our targets to feel their punishment, after all."

Emma started to walk forward, determination in her darkened eyes, but Killian stepped into her way, his single hand outstretched. "I can't let you do this, Swan. I can't!"

Her eyes narrowed. "I was counting on you, Killian. You were to be my enforcer, my right-hand man."

Killian shook his head. "You, the _real_ you, don't want to do this! What you contemplate is murder, unvarnished evil, Swan," he pleaded, desperate to get through to her. "You've yet to cross that line. Nothing you've done can't be reversed, but if you take this step, there will be no coming back."

"I don't intend to 'come back'," Emma said, arms crossed, foot tapping in impatience. "Either join me or get out of my way. Whose side are you on mine or the villains who have made our lives a living hell for the past three years?"

"Yours, love," he said, his voice shaking with emotion. "Always yours! That's why I can't let you destroy yourself."

He stood his ground, hand and hook outstretched, ready to physically restrain her if need be. He knew it was useless; knew he was no match for the Dark One and all of it's magic, but it didn't matter. There was nothing he wouldn't do for Emma Swan, and that included trying to stop the dark force inside her from making her do something she'd regret for the rest of her life.

"You insist on standing in my way?" Emma asked in a voice so cold and calm it could freeze the very marrow within the bones. "So be it. I don't need you. Looks like I'll have to move you myself."

Without warning she struck, blasted him back with a wave of magic so strong it nearly stole the breath from his lungs. He hurtled through the air and over the side of the cliff. Desperately searching for purchase, his hook dug into the loose ground along the edge, his hand found a quickly loosening vine.

"I love you, Emma," he called to her steadily retreating form as the crumbling ground began to steadily give under his hook. "With all of my heart, I love you. No matter what happens I love you. Never forget that."

She continued walking, never looking back even as the man she loved clung to the bluff for dear life.

 _Notes:_

 _-Well, I did warn you. I did tell you this chapter was going to be bad._

 _-Obviously a lot of this chapter was based on filming pictures and spoilers we've been getting lately._

 _-This chapter also exists because TutorGirlml and I had a conversation about cliff-hangers a few months ago. I observed that cliff hangers almost never involve people actually hanging from cliffs, which is kind of a shame. I went on to promise her that one day I would write just that—a cliff hanger involving, well, a cliff. So here you go TutorGirlml. Here's your literal cliff hanger. (Somehow I always kind of thought it would be more of a humorous scene in the middle of a fluffy story, but what can I say? The muse insists on what it insists on.) :)_

 _-Up next: Hard to say much without spoiling anything, but let's just say that True Love conquers all. :) I promise to get the next chapter up in a timely fashion. It would be rather bad form to leave Killian hanging (literally) for too long._


	2. Chapter 2

By Love Undone—Chapter 2

 _A/N: Fear not. This chapter is much, much, much less painful than chapter 1! (I mean, it's not totally pain-free, but what do you expect from me? ;p)_

Killian had once told her that the darkness creeps up on you; that it's seductive; that it's so easy to give in to it.

He had been right.

But he, like her parents, like Henry, had also been wrong. For so long _she'd_ been wrong. Why did everyone think the darkness was a bad thing? Why had she fought so hard against it in the beginning?

There was something utterly, incandescently beautiful about living in the darkness. It wasn't, in fact, dark at all. It was the brightest of lights. Being the Dark One gave Emma powers she'd never known existed. With the flick of a finger, she could change the entire course of history. It was heady and exciting, more potent than any drug.

It wasn't just about the rush the power gave her, though. No, there was so much more. Just think of how much _good_ she could do with the Dark One power? Combine Dark One magic with Savior magic, and there was literally nothing she couldn't do to protect the ones she loved. No crime she couldn't penalize. No abused or abandoned child she couldn't protect. No abusive or neglectful foster parent she couldn't punish.

Why couldn't they all see how much better off Storybrooke—the whole world—was with her wielding the dark powers?

They treated her differently now. All of them did. Oh her parents, Henry, especially Killian tried not to, tried to be there for her in all things, but it wasn't the same. There was a…distance…between her and Killian now. He was with her as much as he'd ever been, and yet he _wasn't_ with her. Their carefree, easy intimacy was gone.

Emma missed it more than she could say. Some days she felt like she'd almost be willing to give up her dark powers if it meant she could go back, if it meant things would go back to the way they used to be. Almost, but not quite.

Maybe that's why she'd tried to seduce him a few minutes ago. She wanted, no _needed_ to feel _something_ with him. A scenario where Captain Innuendo himself would reject her blatant offer of herself had never occurred to her, and it stung. Deeply.

What nonsense had he spouted? Something about protecting her, not taking advantage of her? She'd _wanted_ it! _Wanted_ him! He's always been there for her, given her what she needed before. What was different now?

 _You told him you loved him,_ a nasty voice at the back of her mind said. _You knew it would change things. Cora knew more than you gave her credit for. Love is weakness. When you told him you loved him, you exposed your weakness to him and now he's using it against you._

She was a fool. What had she been thinking? Their love wouldn't last anyway. Love never did.

The mocking voice inside sneered in derision. _Of course your love will last. You know full well you'll never stop loving him. No matter what. It's just his love that will fade away._

She'd been angry with him for refusing her. Maybe that's why things had gone down the way they had at the cliff. First he refused her advances, then he refused to help her get even with those who had harmed her and her loved ones, then he'd gone so far as to try to stop her from going through with her plans.

Her temper was always close to the surface now, and that had been the last straw. She'd simply reacted, not thought it through, just reacted. She hadn't wanted to hurt him, merely to get him out of her way. But if he ended up hurt it was his own damn fault. The idiot had been going up against the Dark One for three hundred years now. Hadn't he learned _anything?_ Maybe one of these days he'd get a freaking _clue_! This was a battle he'd never win; if he had a brain in his head he'd stop trying altogether!

She heard him calling after her as she walked away, her mind consumed with anger and vengeance. His tone went from desperation to resignation to utter conviction.

"I love you, Emma. With all of my heart, I love you. No matter what happens I love you. Never forget that."

Her heart stuttered. Something inside her cried out to him, begged her to go back to him, to save him, but the darker part of her, the _real_ her now, shoved the voice aside, determined to see her plans through to the end.

Without warning she felt her vision blur, felt the quick, sharp headache just behind her eyes, felt her magic bubble up. She knew this feeling, had felt it many times before since she'd become the Dark One.

Rumple's gift of clairvoyance had evidently been passed on to her. She saw the future in fits and starts, never a full picture, just a hint here, a hint there. Tiny puzzle pieces that were, more often than not, more confusing than enlightening. And every time the gift had come to her, it had been preceded by one of these headaches.

Emma stood still, waited for the pain to pass, and then closed her eyes. It was as though a fog clouded her mind, a fog that slowly cleared, to show her…the rocky base of the cliff. Killian lay still and motionless, broken, bleeding.

 _No!_

The small voice inside, the one that still demanded she resist the darkness, flared to life, pushing the darkness away with super-human strength.

 _Oh God, please no! Please say this isn't real! Please say she hadn't killed the man she loved! If he was dead, if she was the cause of it, she couldn't go on._

Emma turned and sprinted back the way she'd come. Poofing herself to the cliff's edge in a cloud of smoke would have been faster, but she _couldn't_ use her dark powers; couldn't risk it being the opening the Dark One needed to take over once again.

She reached the edge of the cliff just as she heard the sound of a branch giving, the sound of Killian shouting as he fell. Leaping into action, she called on every ounce of her Savior magic as she leaned over the cliff.

Try as she might, she couldn't prevent his fall, but she was able to slow it, was able to make his landing gentler.

Even so, he hit the ground with a sickening thud, and lay prone, not moving.

 _NO! No, no, no, no, no!_

Emma climbed down the jagged face of the cliff, abandoning her impractical heels, continuing to climb even as her palms began to bleed, cut by the jagged rocks along the cliff's face. She had to get to him! Nothing was more important than getting to him! When she'd reached the bottom, she ran across the rocky beach at a full sprint, ignoring her protesting feet, only stopping when she'd reached Killian's prone form.

Tears streaming from her face, she dropped to the ground, and cradled him in her arms.

"Please, be okay! O God, please don't be hurt! Killian come back to me!"

He groaned then, stirring in her arms, and she laughed in relief, leaning down to kiss his forehead, his eyes, his lips, any part of his face she could reach.

"You're alive!" she choked out through her sobs. "You're _alive_!"

Killian cautiously opened one eye, groaning, and bringing his hand to the back of his head. "Swan?" he asked. "Emma, is it you? Is it _really_ you?"

She laughed again, leaning down to kiss him. "Yeah, it's me. Somehow I managed to push past the darkness, at least for the time being. Oh, God, Killian, you scared me to death!"

He smiled gently up at her, moving his hand from the back of his head to cup her cheek. It was a gesture more intimate, more affectionate than she'd felt from him in weeks and it warmed her to her toes.

"Emma, one of these days I'm going to get it through that thick skull of yours that I'm a survivor."

She laughed again, kissing him once more before he sat up and then got gingerly to his feet. After a few stretches, a few cautious steps, he seemed satisfied that his fall had done no lasting damage.

With the crisis averted, fear of a completely different kind took over Emma. "Killian!" she said, beginning to pace. "I don't know why this is happening! I don't know how I pushed aside the darkness, but I can already feel it creeping up again. You have to lock me up; put me somewhere I can't escape! You can't let me hurt anyone else!"

Killian came to her and wrapped her in his arms. "Easy, love. Calm yourself."

"How can I calm myself?" she shrieked. "I don't know how I came back to you and I don't know how much longer I have before I turn back into that monster. Oh God, I almost _killed_ you! I can't even imagine the kind of evil I'm capable if I can almost kill the man I love! Do something! Restrain me, lock me somewhere I can't escape, send me through a portal, _something_! Killian, I couldn't live with myself if I did something terrible to someone I care about!"

Killian's held her tightly, rubbing her back with his hand, whispering gentle sounds in her ear. Slowly, Emma felt the fear draining from her, felt only the love flowing from Killian, felt her own love for him bubbling up, and somehow, here in his arms, the darkness felt farther away than ever.

When she'd finally calmed enough to stop the shaking, she stepped from his arms, dried her tears, and looked up into his eyes.

"What are we going to do, Killian?"

"It's like I tried to tell you before, Swan," he said, a gentle smile draping his face, his thumb coming up to wipe at a stray tear she'd missed. "We've found it! We've found the crystal. What we shall do is take the darkness from you; destroy it forever. Your long nightmare is nearly at an end, my love."

"But if the Dark One takes control again before we succeed?" Emma asked, the fear creeping up again. "If I…harm you again before we succeed?"

Killian leaned down and kissed her again, slowly, gently, tenderly. "I'll take my chances, Swan. Hold fast to me. I'll keep the darkness at bay. Never again will I let the Dark One destroy the woman I love."

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

Leroy was the one who had found the magic crystal. He and the rest of the dwarfs had gone back to mining fairy dust after the return from Camelot, reasoning that it would be useful in any endeavor the heroes attempted. He'd taken a mighty swing with his pick-axe, coming in contact with a diamond-shaped stone so hard his axe didn't make so much as a dent. Having been put on the lookout for the crystal, Leroy had taken the stone directly to the Charmings. When Henry took hold of it, it glowed as blue as the midsummer sky. It was all the proof they needed.

Once the Charmings determined what they had, they'd brought in Regina to put a protection spell on the loft, and then they'd dispatched Killian to retrieve Emma.

"So," Emma said, holding tightly to Killian's hand, "the crystal's at my parents'?"

"Aye. Perhaps you'd best poof us there; clear up this darkness as soon as possible."

Emma hesitated. "I don't know, Killian. I'm barely holding the darkness at bay as it is. If I tap into the dark magic…"

Killian cupped her face in his hand, looking deeply in her eyes. "Emma Swan, I love you to the depths of my soul and I know you love me as well. Trust in our love. I swear to you, it'll hold the darkness at bay."

~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~c~s~

Killian looked on nervously as Emma took the magic crystal into her hand. It glowed a dull green; perhaps reflecting the light and the dark fighting for dominance in his love's soul.

There was quite a group there at the loft: the Charmings, Henry, Regina and Robin. This group of people who loved Emma; this group of people who had slowly but surely become his family. All kept a healthy distance from Emma, wary of what would happen if she banished the darkness; even more wary of what would happen if she didn't.

Ever present in the back of Killian's mind was Merlin's warning. Destroying the darkness would not leave the Dark One's host unscarred. What would this do to Emma? All magic came with a price, even magic used to destroy darkness. What would he do, how would he bear it if the price was too steep? If his precious love was destroyed along with the darkness?

Emma turned fearful eyes toward him, and he read her unspoken thoughts as easily as he'd always been able to read her. _What if I fail? What if I'm not strong enough? What if I only make things worse?_

Killian stepped forward, placing his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. His task was clear. He must push his own fears aside and be the strength and confidence his true love needed. "You can do this love! I once told you I'd yet to see you fail, and it's as true today as the day I said it. You _will_ succeed!"

Emma reached up, squeezed the hand on her shoulder, nodded grimly, and then shot Regina a determined look. "So what do I do? How do I even go about 'transferring the darkness'?"

Regina shrugged. "Destroying the Dark One isn't exactly in my purview, Miss Swan. Best guess? Focus on the crystal. Concentrate on what you want to happen. Think about why you want to defeat the darkness; who you want to protect. Then let your instincts take over."

Emma took a deep breath and then looked around at each person throughout the room, stopping last on Killian. "I love you," she whispered, ghosting a kiss against his lips.

"And I you," he reassured.

Nodding once more, Emma squeezed her eyes closed, holding the crystal so tightly it would likely bruise her hand. For long moments nothing happened. Killian felt Emma's frustration in the tension of her shoulder. He squeezed lightly, adding his concentration to hers, willing the Dark One he'd hated for centuries to be expelled from the woman he loved so dearly.

Henry's alarmed cry alerted Killian to the fact that something was happening. He looked up to see Emma's eyes open, glowing a dense, dark black before the black coils that had consumed her a month before began to pour from her mouth, her nose, her ears.

"Henry, get back!" Regina shouted, stepping in front of her son.

But the warning was unnecessary. Emma's efforts were evidently working; the darkness moved obediently into the crystal until the last tendril had left her, until the small piece of stone became as black as pitch.

Shudders wracked Emma as the darkness took its leave, violent tremors that shook her so violently that she would have fallen, writhing on the floor had Killian not held her tightly to himself.

After mere moments but what felt like hours to Killian, it all abruptly stopped. Emma went limp in his arms, the now-dark crystal crumbled and then disappeared with a loud pop, leaving no trace.

"Swan?" Killian asked, unnerved by her stillness. "SWAN!"

She wasn't moving, wasn't waking, wasn't even _breathing._

 _No!_

Pandemonium reined throughout the small flat as one by one Emma's loved ones became aware of her inert state.

"What's wrong with her?" Charming shouted, turning panicked eyes toward Regina. "What did the darkness _do_? Is she…?"

"I don't know!" Regina exclaimed, beginning to pace. "This is…beyond anything I've ever seen. I don't know!"

Killian felt the tears burning the back of his eyes. He couldn't lose her like this. He couldn't! Not after everything she'd been through; not after all her heroic sacrifices. Bending at the knees, Killian lifted Emma into his arms, carried her to her parents' bedroom and set her gently on the bed.

"Wait!" Henry said, finally, sprinting toward his inert mother. "I know what to do! Don't you remember what Merlin said? He said 'by love the dark one undone'. That's it! Love can cure her. Love will save her! True Love's Kiss can break any cures; it's perfect!"

"Henry," Killian said softly, gently, not daring to hope, "I…I don't know. This isn't a curse, lad. This is something different entirely. There's no telling if True Love's Kiss would have any effect."

Snow moved forward, turning Killian toward her, looking earnestly into his eyes. "You have to try, Killian! I've seen how deep and strong and true is the love between you and my daughter. Please! Hold on to hope, we have to at least try!"

Killian looked into eyes so like those of his love, and he could deny the lady Snow nothing. Nodding slowly, he sat beside Emma on the bed, gently pushed tendrils of hair from her face, and leaned down.

"I love you," he whispered a moment before his lips connected to hers. He waited a heartbeat, a second, hoping, praying his efforts weren't in vain.

Suddenly a pulse of electricity shot through the room as wave after wave of rainbow light radiated from their joined lips. Before he even opened his eyes, he knew the kiss had worked.

"Killian!" Emma breathed sitting up and throwing her arms around his neck. "It's over! I'm free!"

He laughed, hugging her tightly, burying his face in the crook of her neck, letting the tears well in his eyes, letting one or two spill over onto his cheeks. "That you are, Swan; that you are. You're a bloody marvel; destroying the greatest evil the world has ever known!"

Emma pulled back, enough to look in his eyes. " _We're_ a bloody marvel, Killian! I couldn't have done it without you. Your love; your true love gave me the strength I needed to push the Dark One aside, to destroy it for good."

Killian surged forward, taking her lips with enough force and passion that they both fell prone on the bed, hands combing through hair, heads tilting side to side.

"Um..guys" Henry said, disgust evident in his voice. "Kid in the room. I'm pretty sure I don't need to be seeing this."

"I'm far past childhood," Regina said irritably from her perch in the living room, "but I'm positive I don't need to be seeing this either."

"Whether I _need_ to be seeing this or not," Charming added, "this is, without a doubt, one of those things I _don't_ want to know about; particularly when it's happening in _my bed_!"

Killian pulled back, grinning.

"Killian," she said, laughter in her voice. "I _definitely_ need my own place."

 _Notes:_

 _-See, I told you that would be less painful! :)_

 _-I have no idea how the Dark Swan story arc is really going to go. The only thing I know for sure is that Emma will be able to get rid of the darkness eventually (oh, and also: Hook's not going to die. I don't know why, but it seems every half season we get rumblings of fear and panic and worry that there is going to be a fatality, and that Hook is going to be that fatality. He isn't. He is perfectly, 100% safe)._

 _-As for how I'd like Emma to be freed from the darkness…pretty much just what I've written. I want 2 things: Emma to save herself (after all, the only one who saves her is her. Beyond that…the savior defeating the Dark One once and for all with the strength of her goodness is a really powerful story!), and I want a CS TLK. That's all I ask. If the writers insist on putting us through torment and angst leading up to the big climax, they can at least give us one teeny tiny little TLK, can't they?_

 _-Okay, now that the angst is out of my system, I can go back to the fluff._


End file.
